Ubuntu 13.04 has been released, with the Linux 3.8.8 kernel, a faster and less resource hungry Unity desktop, LibreOffice 4.0, and much more. Ubuntu users will know where to get it, and you're looking for a new installation, have fun. Also fun: UbuntuKylin.

Wow, can you please tell me an OS where there are no issues with any software when upgrading between releases?

OS X? Windows when upgrading to SPs? Of course there are always chances something somewhere might break, but Linux Desktop is just ridiculous. Sometimes it's *designed* to break, like when PulseAudio got released, or every time X.org breaks Intel and Nvidia proprietary GPU drivers, and it's practically *designed* to break the upgrade and drop you to a blank screen or CLI.

Anyway, Ubuntu's problem is that even on a clean installation, sometimes old app binaries just don't work, because the API is not stable.

And don't get me started how most distros get upgraded on a breakneck pace. I can do a format and clean install everytime a new Windows version rolls out, but every 6 months?

Steam has only been in Ubuntu for a few months so it hasn't even broken "in the last couple of releases".
Steam is also incredibly buggy even on Windows so it's not surprising that Valve would screw something up at some point in the Linux version. Yes, screwing up a dependency is Valve's fault, not Ubuntu's.

As for VMWare, well, the guy who works there already said it's not Ubuntu's fault if/when it breaks. That's not even mentioning how suspect your described problem is.

Finally we have Skype. Skype is, and always have been, badly engineered to begin with so I'm not really surprised it breaks now and then. This is the first time it has been broken in a new release though and I'm sure a fix will be out for that from Skype or Ubuntu soon and there's a workaround so its not like the sky is falling.

Ubuntu's problem is that even on a clean installation, sometimes old app binaries just don't work, because the API is not stable.

Sometimes old software doesn't work in a new/clean Windows or OSX either. Also, there's no Ubuntu API so I don't know what API you're talking about that's supposedly not stable.

And don't get me started how most distros get upgraded on a breakneck pace

So, uh, don't use something that's obviously not suitable for you? Just because it doesn't suit you doesn't mean there's something wrong with it.

Steam has only been in Ubuntu for a few months so it hasn't even broken "in the last couple of releases".
Steam is also incredibly buggy even on Windows so it's not surprising that Valve would screw something up at some point in the Linux version. Yes, screwing up a dependency is Valve's fault, not Ubuntu's.

Steam isn't that buggy on Windows, the problem was that Steam was expecting certain dependencies to be present that happened to be present on an older version of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu broke Steam.

Finally we have Skype. Skype is, and always have been, badly engineered to begin with so I'm not really surprised it breaks now and then. This is the first time it has been broken in a new release though and I'm sure a fix will be out for that from Skype or Ubuntu soon and there's a workaround so its not like the sky is falling.

It probably broken because it was compiled with a certain library that is either in a different place or a different version. The problem is that unlike Windows or OSX to a lesser degree, libraries in the system change.

Getting spotify working on fedora required me to symlink and it still wasn't stable.

Sometimes old software doesn't work in a new/clean Windows or OSX either.

Doesn't happen nearly as often. Which is the core of the argument. Yes there are work arounds, but you just don't have to do it on Windows.